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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26191030">It's Raining Somewhere Else</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FutureLikeJicasso/pseuds/FutureLikeJicasso'>FutureLikeJicasso</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>5+1 Format, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Fluff, M/M, Some Swearing, Strangers to Lovers, Time Travel, minsungbingo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:08:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,010</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26191030</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FutureLikeJicasso/pseuds/FutureLikeJicasso</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing ever happens in Jisung’s town. Ever.</p><p>So when the wide-eyed stranger Jisung fishes out of the pond in the local park claims to be a time traveller, well, could anyone really blame him for wanting to believe in something?</p><p>What someone like Minho wants in a town like this - with a person like Jisung - he can’t really be sure, but he’ll take what he can get while it lasts. After all, even if Minho -was- a time traveller, why would he come back?</p><p>...unless he could sense that Jisung would maybe, slightly, kind of desperately like to see him again?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>247</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>MINSUNG BINGO: Round One</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It's Raining Somewhere Else</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I swore I would get a blackout on my @minsungbingo card if it killed me, and let me tell you, it tried to kill me. </p><p>Presenting the result of the most intensive overnight writing session I have ever had, just to check off my final two prompts - <strong>Time Travel</strong> and <strong>Stars/Constellations</strong> - with hours to spare before the event closed. I'm not entirely sure this fic is even in English at this point</p><p>also if you know where the title is from please don't laugh!!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
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</p><p>
  <em> i. </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>There was someone in the pond.</p><p> </p><p>If anything interesting was going to happen in Jisung’s small town, it was probably going to be in the park, and he went there whenever he needed a change of scenery, a little excitement, <em> anything </em>. That said, ‘interesting’ usually equated to cute squirrels, or weird bugs, or maybe some ducks fighting by the waterside.</p><p> </p><p>Today, there was <em> a guy in the pond. </em></p><p> </p><p>And well, Jisung wasn’t exactly going to just leave him there.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Nobody else was around to help, anyway, but Jisung hadn’t needed to think twice before jumping to the stranger’s aid. That was how, soaked to the skin and algae in his hair, Jisung had helped the unfamiliar man onto the grassy bank by the water’s edge, coughing and spluttering. The pond was pretty gross looking at the best of times, and Jisung could have gone without knowing what it was like in there, but a part of Jisung felt kind of...proud.</p><p> </p><p>Especially when the stranger, wiping water from his face and untangling pondweed from his hair, let his gaze rest on Jisung’s face with something akin to awe shining in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Whoever he was, and however he’d ended up in the pond, Jisung assumed he was grateful, maybe a little overwhelmed.</p><p> </p><p>What Jisung was <em> not </em> expecting to hear from the man’s mouth was a tentative “what year is it?”</p><p> </p><p>Jisung blinked. Blinked again. Shook a little water from his hair. The stranger was still watching him, waiting for an answer, and all Jisung could really do was give it.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, nice! That’s a new century!” His face broke into a dazzling smile, and he took a moment to look around the park - watch a bird swoop overhead and into the nearby tree that Jisung broke his arm falling from as a kid, run his gaze along the length of the low fence that a younger Jisung had insisted he could skateboard across without injury. “And this is Korea, right? And you’re from around here?”</p><p> </p><p>“It...it is. And I am. And you’re weird.” There was no malice in it, and the strange man didn’t seem to find any there, either, laughing at Jisung’s words and nodding along.</p><p> </p><p>“What can I say? I’m not from around.” And he definitely wasn’t. For starters, nobody from the area would even think going in the pond was a good idea - kids were typically told there were all kinds of horrors lurking in its depths, from broken glass to giant creepy crawlies, while adults just knew that it was <em> gross </em> - and really, if someone with a face like that had spent any considerable time in town, Jisung would have known about it. “I’m Minho.”</p><p> </p><p>“Jisung.” He couldn’t help himself. “In the nicest possible way, can I ask what the hell you were doing in the pond?”</p><p> </p><p>The stranger - Minho, apparently - laughed again, as if Jisung were the most hilarious person he’d spoken to in a thousand years. “Oh, I wasn’t <em> expecting </em> there to be a pond there. I must have had my coordinates a little off. Still, it’s worked out pretty well - how lucky could I get, to have a chivalrous local come to my aid?”</p><p> </p><p>Jisung had absolutely no idea what Minho was talking about, but he sure talked about it with confidence, and seemed extremely entertained when Jisung told him that, as well.</p><p> </p><p>“Would you believe me,” Minho began, leaning a little closer and lowering his voice to a playful whisper despite there being nobody else in the park to overhear them, save for a pair of squirrels that Jisung was pretty sure wouldn’t tell. “If I told you I were a time traveller?”</p><p> </p><p>At that, Jisung moved away, just a little, and took a moment to give the man in front of him a proper once over.</p><p> </p><p>Minho looked like a normal guy. A really <em> hot </em> normal guy, for sure - a genetically blessed normal guy - but for all intents and purposes, an entirely probable-looking human being. The black jumpsuit he wore was a little out there, maybe, but Jisung couldn’t say he hadn’t made more outlandish fashion choices over the years. And sure, perhaps he spoke a little strangely, and said weird shit, but he didn’t seem like he was trying to convince anyone - not Jisung, not even himself - of anything. It was as if he was just...being as he was, saying things how they were.</p><p> </p><p>Was he all there? Jisung couldn’t be sure, but was anybody in this world? Really?</p><p> </p><p>It was with that thought that Jisung finally, slowly nodded. “Yeah, I think I would.”</p><p> </p><p>Minho practically lit up at that, like he hadn’t been expecting it. “Hm. So I’m not the only weird one. What makes you say that?”</p><p> </p><p>He shrugged, pulling pondweed out from the neckline of his t-shirt. Ew. “Nothing ever happens around here, so I guess it would be nice to believe in something.”</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Jisung wasn’t kidding when he said nothing ever happened - Minho showing up was probably the most exciting thing to happen to him in <em> years </em>, and he was already thinking about how to approach the topic with his out-of-town friends next time they called. It was the kind of town where fishing a dude out of the local pond qualified as the social event of the century.</p><p> </p><p>Somehow, Minho seemed to find this fascinating. “Nothing happens here? At all?” He prodded further, starry-eyed. “It’s peaceful? It’s normal?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s <em> boring </em> . For real, the only reason I’d doubt you were a time traveller would be wondering why you bothered coming to a place like this.” Jisung stood up, then, squeezing the front of his t-shirt with his hands to force more of the pond water out of it. He was definitely going to need another shower before work - he couldn’t exactly turn up for his shift like this; he wasn’t entirely sure he didn’t have frogspawn in his hair. Over the sound of water hitting the ground, he almost missed a whispered <em> some of us love boring </em> . “Why <em> are </em> you here, anyway? To change the future? To stop someone from being born? Like they do in the movies.”</p><p> </p><p>For the first time since Jisung had pulled him out of the pond, Minho appeared to hesitate, his confidence faltering for a split second before the smile returned to his face. “I’m...here to learn, actually. I want to know what it’s like here.”</p><p> </p><p><em> “Here?” </em>Jisung raised an eyebrow in questioning, but Minho held firm.</p><p> </p><p>“Right here, and right now. Is there, uh, a place I can do that nearby?”</p><p> </p><p>His expression wavered again, and for a moment, he really did seem like a completely normal person. A little lost, bewildered even - more like what Jisung would expect from someone he just rescued from a pond, and it made him want to help in whatever way he could.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe Jisung was just weak for good-looking boys, maybe Minho had just made a strong impression, maybe a little of columns A and B at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>Holding out a hand, Jisung helped Minho to his feet. “If you mean a library, we have one of those, yeah. They’re good for learning stuff. I can show you the way, but I have to work soon, so I can’t stick around.” He gestured to his clothes, then, still soaked through and green in places, before waving a hand vaguely in Minho’s direction. “Are you good?”</p><p> </p><p>Minho’s eyes followed Jisung’s motions, before realisation spread across his features. “Oh, I’m fine, I have more period-appropriate clothes under this thing, anyway.” He winked, and maybe Jisung was caught a little off guard - that was the only excuse he could give for the little skip in his chest. “I don’t wear my sexy sci-fi outfit <em> all </em> the time.”</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s take that as an <em> I’m good thanks </em> and be on our way, shall we?” He hoped to anyone that may have been listening that he wasn’t blushing. “If you wanna change into your normal people clothes, now might be the time to do it while nobody’s around. There’s some decent cover in the bushes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait-” and Jisung waited, stilling as the other boy reached out to take both of Jisung’s hands in his own. Maybe Minho was just weird, maybe wherever he was from had a more physical social culture than Jisung was used to, or maybe Jisung was just <em> really </em> smitten with the first attractive boy to come into his life since college, but either way, Jisung was asked to wait and he waited. “Tell me today’s date again. Once more, with feeling.”</p><p> </p><p>And so, Jisung told him, Minho nodding along with each word out of his mouth. He wasn’t sure if it was for Minho’s benefit or his own - he’d never forget it now, not like this; the shape of each word on his tongue, their damp hands pressed together and early blossoms, knocked out of their trees by spring rains, scattered around their feet.</p><p> </p><p>“I won’t forget it,” Minho insisted. “I can’t forget it.”</p><p> </p><p>It had been the weirdest day of Jisung’s life by a long shot. He wouldn’t be forgetting it any time soon, even if he wanted to.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>Part of him wondered if he’d imagined the whole thing when the two of them parted ways at the town’s library, Minho excitedly pawing at the <em> oh my god paper books </em>and now dressed in a simple long-sleeved tee and shorts that wouldn’t look out of place in Jisung’s own wardrobe. Maybe they’d bumped into each other at the bus stop or something, and Jisung’s overactive imagination had watched one too many sci-fi movies recently. Maybe something was wrong with him.</p><p> </p><p>Still, even as he tried his best to concentrate on his work later that day, Jisung found himself constantly thinking back to the pond. To splutters and splashes and algae and held gazes and <em> what year is it? </em></p><p> </p><p>Maybe small-town life was starting to drive Jisung a little bit loopy.</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <em> ii. </em>
</p><p>
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</p><p>For a while, Jisung had almost convinced himself that he really had made the whole thing up.</p><p> </p><p>A few persistent green stains in his t-shirt and the elderly-lady-gossip-circle (legally required in all towns such as Jisung’s) regularly asking who his handsome friend was were the only things that made Jisung doubt that.</p><p> </p><p>He found himself at the library a lot, a place he’d never really given much thought over all the years he’d grown up in town, borrowing various books and movies with one common theme - <em> time travel </em>.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe he was a little bit obsessed, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why a time traveller, if they were <em> even real </em>, would want to come to his town, of all places. Why they would want to talk to Jisung, of all people.</p><p> </p><p>The books and movies he borrowed only seemed to give more questions than they did answers, though. None of the characters in those books were like Minho. Jisung couldn’t really imagine anybody else, real or otherwise, who was like Minho.</p><p> </p><p>That was another thing that had Jisung convinced it was all real, though.</p><p> </p><p>How was he, or anyone for that matter, supposed to make up someone like Minho?</p><p> </p><p>At work, at the park, or in the library, Jisung couldn’t help but constantly think about Minho. Where had he gone, after Jisung had left the library to get ready for his shift? What kind of stuff had he been looking for? <em> Why? </em> Jisung couldn’t completely rule out the possibility of the other boy having come back in time to say, assassinate someone, but aside from hoping that it wasn’t him (and well, Minho had his name, so he felt reasonably assured that it <em> wouldn’t </em> be him) Jisung wasn’t sure what he’d even do if that were the case.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>He felt a bit silly, dedicating so much time and energy to the thought of someone who may not have even been real in the first place, let alone ever coming back.</p><p>
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</p><p>Perhaps it was the way Jisung had thought back over that day in the park a thousand- no, a million times, but it had started to feel like a movie, or a comic book. His memories had placed a hazy, dreamlike filter over the whole experience; around Minho’s face, his voice, the touch of his hands. It was all fuzzy around the edges.</p><p> </p><p>Which was why when that same face, that same voice, that same touch suddenly showed up one sunny afternoon in a quiet corner of the library, Jisung very nearly had a heart attack.</p><p> </p><p>“Jisung?” Minho had watched him, leaning against the bookshelf with increasing concern on his face as Jisung metaphorically (and well, maybe physically) brought himself back down from the ceiling. “Shit. We’ve already met, right? It was-”</p><p> </p><p>“-a couple of months ago, yeah. Sorry I- fuck, you surprised me.” He picked up the book he’d dropped, quickly flipping it over in his lap to obscure the cover from Minho’s view. “You came back?” <em> You’re real. </em></p><p> </p><p>“I was worried for a moment there that I’d gone back too far,” the other boy smiled sheepishly, eyes flicking between Jisung and the empty seat next to him a few times before taking Jisung’s lack of resistance as an invitation to sit. He looked so...normal, again in a long-sleeved tee, and jeans today. Anyone else would see two perfectly ordinary young men chatting in the town library.</p><p> </p><p>Jisung knew better.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s sure been a while, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>Holding a book - from what Jisung could see, it was something about global politics; not something Jisung knew a whole lot about - close to his chest, Minho chewed his bottom lip as if in thought. “I’ve been back a few times, actually. Mostly in the library, but I’ve been people-watching, too. I couldn’t find you though. I mean…” He laughed quietly. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want me to find you. You know. The weirdo who calls himself a time traveller.”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t say that.” Jisung reached out, then, to rest a hand on Minho’s arm. They both flinched at the touch, and while Jisung wasn’t entirely sure what Minho’s reaction was for, he knew he himself was just a little bit in shock that Minho was really there, in front of him, to see and hear and <em> touch </em> . “You’re the weirdo who <em> is </em> a time traveller.”</p><p> </p><p>It was like Minho had never left. For someone Jisung had only met twice now, in such bizarre circumstances, it was ridiculously easy to just get comfortable with Minho, and the two of them eventually settled into an amiable silence as they leafed through their own books. Minho was constantly returning to the shelves to pick up this or that, essays and references and encyclopedias on all kinds of things, and just looking at some of the titles had Jisung’s head spinning.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t imagine what it was that Minho wanted to know. It was like he wanted to know <em> everything </em>.</p><p> </p><p>He realised, then, that after months of useless speculation on the matter, he now had the genuine article in front of him and could just...ask.</p><p> </p><p>“What do I want to know?” Minho had repeated, glancing up from his book, and Jisung nodded. “Hm...well, there is one thing.”<br/><br/>“Yeah?”</p><p> </p><p>He hummed. “Do you think you’ll be in this town for a while? Like, do you think you’re going to leave any time soon?”<br/><br/></p><p>It was Jisung’s turn to laugh, covering his mouth a little so as not to draw the attention of the librarian. “It’s pretty hard to get out of a town like this when you grow up in it. I don’t think I’m <em> ever </em> leaving.” When he next met Minho’s eyes, his laugh died down, as the other boy seemed almost...sad. “I mean, it’s not a bad place, it’s just…” He shrugged. “Boring. If more exciting stuff happened, you know, like time travellers showing up, it would probably be a lot more interesting.”</p><p> </p><p>Minho nodded along. “I was just wondering. It would suck if I came back and you’d moved away, is all.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, there’s no danger of that.”</p><p>
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</p><p>The silence had settled over them again, a little more tense this time, and the two boys returned to their reading. The picture of normalcy, no one would bat an eye to look at them.</p><p> </p><p>Well, perhaps a few of the gossiping grandmothers would have something to say about the way Minho laced his fingers with Jisung’s, not looking up from his book but shifting a little on the spot. <em> It might surprise you, but I know what it’s like to feel trapped, </em>he’d whispered.</p><p> </p><p>And if he’d noticed Jisung giving him an opening to elaborate, he chose not to take it.</p><p> </p><p><em> It’s really nice here though, </em>he said instead.</p><p>
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</p><p>There was one more thing Minho had wanted to know, though he’d been uncharacteristically coy about it and waited for Jisung to volunteer the information himself.</p><p> </p><p>“-so you can find me, next time.” Jisung had insisted after telling Minho which part of town he lived in, and despite being quite possibly the most average and unexceptional human being to ever live, Minho had looked at him like he hung the stars in the sky. “If you’re sure you really want to come back here again.”</p><p> </p><p>“Next time,” Minho sighed, almost wistfully. “It’s a promise.”</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>
  <em> iii. </em>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <em> “-anyways, that’s how it is with me. How are things going at the grocery store? Good?” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Can’t complain. Old Man Kim was talking about making me a manager soon. Pretty sure I’d be doing all the stuff I already do for the same money, but with a shiny little badge.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Shiny little badge though. You’re moving up in the world.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“I sure am.” Jisung chuckled, and it was only a teeny, tiny little bit bitter.</p><p> </p><p>Changbin, as well as being Jisung’s best friend since they were babies, was an outlier. Changbin had <em> escaped </em>. Through a combination of knowing the right people, picking the right battles and being bold to the point of recklessness at times, he’d managed to build a life for himself in the big city that Jisung desperately envied.</p><p> </p><p>(Jisung did his best to ignore the fact that Changbin had, more than once, offered to help Jisung follow in his footsteps. But Jisung wasn’t sure if he could be bold like Changbin, pick himself up and keep moving when the going got tough. And so Changbin was all the way out there and Jisung was still here, the small-town boy he was born to be. Maybe if he complained about it loud enough, it wouldn’t look like he’d given up. At least Changbin, as Jisung’s certified Bestest Best Friend In The Whole Wide World, was nice enough not to push the subject.)</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, hyung-“ all the talk of work had reminded him of something, something that could finally give him a natural-sounding lead into the topic he’d been trying to bring up for ages now. “Your mom was at the store just the other day, actually. She said you’d <em> met somebody </em>.”</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t repress a grin as his best friend spluttered on the other end of the line. “<em> She’s just saying what she wants to believe! I told her I’ve made a couple of new buddies through work, that’s all.” </em></p><p> </p><p>“You sure? She was telling me how you seem really happy, all of a sudden.”</p><p> </p><p>An uncomfortable little grumble, and Jisung knew he was victorious. “<em> I mean. If anything happens there, you’ll be the first to know. That’s all I’ve got to say about it.” </em></p><p> </p><p>“Go get’em, tiger.”</p><p> </p><p>Changbin didn’t call very often, these days, and Jisung really did understand. He worked in a hectic industry and was moving up in the world himself. With apartment moves and strange shifts and, apparently, making new connections, it was understandable that he wouldn’t always have the time or the energy to keep up with what Jisung was doing.</p><p> </p><p>Besides, there wasn’t a whole lot for him to miss. Well, except for the whole <em> Minho thing. </em></p><p> </p><p>Watching next door’s cat chasing butterflies from his bedroom window, Jisung wondered if Changbin believed in time travellers. They’d had several hushed discussions at sleepovers when they were teenagers about the existence of ghosts and aliens and other such things, but not time travel, specifically.</p><p> </p><p>Part of Jisung desperately wanted to involve his best friend in this new...<em> thing </em> that was happening in his life. The first really exciting <em> thing </em> for a long, long time.</p><p> </p><p>But another part of Jisung was afraid. Afraid that Changbin would dismiss him as a silly, over-imaginative little kid. Afraid that his older, cooler friend would take it as a cue to leave Jisung behind for good.</p><p> </p><p>He wasn’t really sure what to do.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “What about you?” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“What <em> about </em>me?” This was supposed to be Jisung’s lead-in, but he was having second thoughts. Third and fourth and fifth ones.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “I didn’t know if you’d. I dunno. Met someone.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Not sure where you think I’d be meeting anybody new, but that’s cute of you.”</p><p> </p><p><em> “Well, if you ever feel like coming by, I could introduce you to some guys I know.” </em> Changbin’s tone softened, then, as if testing the waters a little bit. No topic should have been off-limits between them, least of all this, but it was the one thing that Changbin still got a little shy about despite his confidence in every other area of his life, and Jisung didn’t really have any qualification to tease him for it. “ <em> They’re...they’d be...I know some nice people, yeah.” </em></p><p> </p><p>“I appreciate it, hyung.” And he really did - it was always reassuring to know that Changbin did think of him, sometimes.</p><p> </p><p>The cat outside leapt boldly at a particularly large butterfly, the insect flitting just out of reach, and as Jisung’s eyes followed the motion up the street, he paused at the sight of a familiar face. He could only hope that Changbin didn’t notice his breath catching. “Shit. I’m gonna have to call you back, someone’s, uh...at the door.”</p><p>
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</p><p>Not quite at the door, but close enough, as by the time Jisung had pocketed his phone and stumbled down the stairs of his apartment building, Minho was just a couple of buildings away, quietly contemplating a pair of bees bumbling around the neighbours’ prize roses.</p><p> </p><p>“Minho?” He called tentatively, as if it could be anyone else.</p><p> </p><p>“Jisung!” It almost made him want to blush, or hide his face behind his hands like a giggling schoolgirl, the way Minho seemed so ridiculously excited to see him. “So this is where you live?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. It isn’t much, but it’s home.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s so nice,” Minho gestured around them with his arms spread wide, sleeves almost entirely covering his hands in a way Jisung wished he hadn’t noticed was so cute. It made him want to do things like hold Minho's hands again. “It’s so cosy, and there’s so many plants!”</p><p> </p><p>“Plants are great until your apartment is full of <em> bees </em>.” Jisung was complaining for the sake of complaining, really, unsure what he was supposed to do otherwise. He didn’t even really mind the bees, even if he hadn’t exactly signed up for them. “I’m all for them saving the planet and all, but not right next to my ears when I’m trying to sleep, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>“They are good for the environment, aren’t they…?” Minho hesitated a little too long, then, and Jisung allowed himself to act on impulse, reaching out to loop his fingers lightly around Minho’s wrist and tug him in the direction of his apartment before either of them could overthink the implication of what Minho had - or hadn’t - just said. “Oh! Can I come in?”</p><p> </p><p>Briefly, ever so briefly, Jisung entertained the thought that Minho could be a vampire, instead. It wouldn’t surprise him at this point.</p><p> </p><p>For someone supposedly from a completely different time and place, Minho sure did fit surprisingly well into Jisung’s apartment. He’d always considered it a modest space for one person, and figured two would be a crowd, but it was as if Minho didn’t take up any space at all. If anything, the whole apartment felt brighter with him in it, seemingly awed by every last little detail from floor to ceiling.</p><p> </p><p>He wondered, for a moment, if he should offer to accompany Minho to the library, but Minho appeared more than content to just hang around in Jisung’s apartment, instead.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m learning so much right now, you don’t even know.” He sighed, flopping back onto Jisung’s couch like he lived there. “This isn’t like anywhere I’ve been before, least of all home.”</p><p> </p><p>It was warm outside, hot even, but a distinct chill shot through the air as Minho’s words bounced off the walls of the apartment and around in Jisung’s thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Home. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Jisung didn’t know exactly how it all worked, but even a time traveller had to have originated from somewhere, right?</p><p> </p><p>“-besides. It’s really hot out, so we should stay here.”</p><p> </p><p>Jisung swallowed. <em> Okay. Apparently we are not having that conversation. </em>“You’d probably be cooler without the sleeves, if you want to borrow a different shirt?” He waited until the other boy shook his head. “Gotcha. The air con kinda sucks in here, so the windows will have to do.”</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>For a while, they stayed like that. Just two completely normal young men relaxing in a completely normal apartment on a completely normal early-summer day. Minho seemed to doze off on the couch at one point, as they listened to the radio together in a comfortable silence.</p><p> </p><p>It was...really nice. There was no other way to describe it. The warmth blooming in Jisung’s chest that even the breeze through the window couldn’t quite cool off. Minho’s sleepy humming along with the music on the radio. The temptation to reach out and touch Minho again, anchor him to the present and know he was real.</p><p> </p><p>Had it not been for the whole time traveller thing, it was definitely something Changbin deserved to know about. But maybe Jisung was enjoying keeping a secret, just for a while.</p><p> </p><p>Their little bubble was interrupted by a sudden <em> mrrt </em> from the window, as next door’s cat hopped right on in.</p><p> </p><p>“You know, Sunny, my <em> other </em> guest was polite enough to ask before waltzing in.”</p><p> </p><p>It was a regular enough occurrence for Jisung that he didn’t really think anything of it, to the point of keeping a small bag of cat treats around for any surprise visitors. Over on the couch, though, Minho was apparently awake again, staring wide-eyed at their new company.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s a cat.” He whispered, a tremble in his voice that Jisung had never heard before. “Holy shit. That’s a real cat.”</p><p> </p><p>“I...yeah?” Jisung liked cats, but Minho appeared to be having something akin to a religious experience, watching as Sunny washed her paws on the window ledge. “She lives next door.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is- is she domesticated? Can we pet her?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, the hard part is getting her to let you stop once you’ve started, really. I’ll get her over here.”</p><p> </p><p>Sunny loved being fussed, and from the moment Jisung started making soft <em> click </em>ing sounds with his mouth, she immediately scurried over to the two boys, tail curling in anticipation of being the centre of attention. It had been a little while since Jisung had taken the time to really fuss Sunny properly, but noticing Minho’s hesitation, he felt like he should be the one to start, running his hands over her fur and scratching under her chin.</p><p> </p><p>Minho’s hand shook, just a little, as he reached out to copy Jisung’s actions. When the cat rewarded him with a purr, tipping her head into the attention, he looked more than a little like he was going to cry.</p><p> </p><p>“This place is perfect.” Minho sighed, eyes following the up-and-down motions of Sunny’s paws padding on the couch cushions.</p><p> </p><p>“You like cats?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve always dreamed of having cats. We don’t have them where I’m from. I always wanted to go planetside just once, so I could maybe see some cats.” Jisung’s head spun, only the repetitive movement keeping him grounded. That was <em> a lot to take in </em>. “I really was born in the worst time possible - too early to meet aliens, too late to meet cats.”</p><p> </p><p>“That does sound like it sucks.” It really did. From the way Minho gazed adoringly at Sunny, it was as though he could die right there on the spot and be completely fine with it. “There’s plenty of cats here and now.”</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t believe you said nothing happens here when there’s cats. You lied to me.” Jisung couldn’t help but laugh, if only at how genuine Minho sounded. “This is amazing. This is literally everything.”</p><p> </p><p>It really was impossible to get Sunny to leave until she had her fill of attention, but Minho had been more than happy to give it. Even when he had run out of loving nonsense to coo at the cat in front of them, Minho had plenty to say - he didn’t just want one cat, apparently, he dreamed bigger than that. He wanted at least three, and had even picked out their names as a child because he believed, so so strongly, that he would get to have them one day. He needed to be prepared for that eventuality, so he said.</p><p> </p><p>If Minho had been starry-eyed before, he practically held the whole galaxy in his eyes as he gushed about cats, and Jisung found himself hanging from the other boy’s every word.</p><p> </p><p>Minho talked like he was in love, almost, and maybe it was more than a little bit catching.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em> iv. </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>It was one hazy summer evening that Jisung first saw Minho do it.</p><p> </p><p>He’d been on his way home from his shift at the grocery store, sleeves pushed right up to his shoulders for even a little respite from the blazing heat, and until that point it had been just like any other day. Summer days had started to melt together into an amorphous blob, indistinguishable from the days or even weeks before. It was like sleepwalking, almost, perpetually fuzzy.</p><p> </p><p>As Jisung turned onto his street, a sudden, resounding <em> crack </em>out of nowhere had Jisung’s blood running cold, his head suddenly, almost painfully clear.</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t like a gunshot - not that he’d heard one in real life - it wasn’t like anything Jisung had ever heard before, and with his heart practically in his throat, he quickly reached into his pocket for his keys. It wasn’t much, but holding them firmly in his grip made him feel a little safer, somehow. At least until he could find the source of the-</p><p> </p><p>“Jisung?”</p><p> </p><p>Jisung wasn’t entirely sure what he’d just seen.</p><p> </p><p>Minho was in front of him, falling from a spot in the sky that had <em> definitely </em>not seemed out of the ordinary before that and landing in a clearly practised pose on the ground just a few feet ahead. On meeting Jisung’s eyes, he quickly moved to roll his left sleeve down, standing bolt upright.</p><p> </p><p>“You…” Jisung’s mouth was dry, and he knew he was staring. Fuck it - he had <em> every right to stare. </em>“You uh. Travelled. Through time.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure did,” he laughed nervously, glancing around them as if hoping for some kind of distraction. A cat. A bee. Anything. “Fancy uh, running into you here. You just got out of work? Warm today, isn’t it…?”</p><p> </p><p>“Minho,” his voice didn’t really sound like his own, and maybe he was still tense from the sudden loud noise, but more likely, he was starting to realise how little he actually knew about Minho. The other boy knew where Jisung lived, where he worked, what went on in his head, and everything all the way to the very edges of Jisung’s little world. Jisung...he just had so, so many questions. “I want to know how this works.”</p><p> </p><p>Perhaps it was something in Jisung’s tone, or maybe Minho was just ready to share, but when Jisung motioned for Minho to follow him into his apartment, he followed readily.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Side by side on the couch seemed like the easiest way to go about it. Face to face was a little bit much, and the sun setting outside set a funny sort of mood, dreamlike even, where the words flowed more easily than they would have in daylight.</p><p> </p><p>“I did always say I was a time traveller,” Minho began, hugging his knees into his chest. “Unless you didn’t believe me?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not that I didn’t <em> believe </em>you, it’s just…” he made a vague gesture with his hands. “It’s like the cat thing. You had to know we had cats here and now, right? But it was something else entirely actually having a cat in front of you, wasn’t it? It’s literally that.” Wrapping his arms tightly around a cushion, he sighed heavily, closing his eyes. “It kinda brought it home that I don’t really know who you are, or how you work, and I wanna know, because I like you a lot.”</p><p> </p><p>Quiet.</p><p> </p><p>So, so quiet.</p><p> </p><p>But not in a bad way.</p><p> </p><p>Minho shuffled a little closer to Jisung, then, and threaded their fingers together all too easily.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll tell you who I am, because I like you a lot too.”</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>He started simply, or so he said. “I’m Minho. That’s not the name I was given - it was one of my distant ancestors’ names, and I liked it, so now it’s mine.</p><p> </p><p>I’m just a normal human being, like any other human on the Orbital Colony, except for the part where I was born with, well, this.”</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Minho rolled up his left sleeve, and motioned for Jisung to look.</p><p> </p><p>It was...well, the closest thing Jisung could compare it to was a tattoo, except it <em> moved </em>. Winding ropes all the way up Minho’s arm to his shoulder, flexing and flowing so naturally, it was like it had a life of its own, independently of its host. Jisung was a little hesitant to touch, but he did at least lean close for a better look.</p><p> </p><p>The ropes seemed to be wearing thin, in places.</p><p> </p><p>“This is my Tether.”</p><p> </p><p>“Your what?” Jisung asked dumbly.</p><p> </p><p>“My Tether. It’s kind of like a bungee cord, if you have those. I jump back, and after a while, it pulls me home again.” He lowered his voice, then, despite there being no one else around. “It’s going to break soon.”</p><p> </p><p>That time, Jisung reached out - ran his fingertips along the ropes with bated breath, as if just touching them would cause them to snap. “What happens then?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you jump with a broken bungee, and you’re not bouncing back up, right?” Jisung nodded, even though Minho wasn’t actually looking at him. “You leap with a broken Tether, you’re not bouncing back either.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re trapped.” He breathed, and Minho hummed thoughtfully.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, trapped is what you make of it. If you’re stuck somewhere better than where you came from, are you really stuck at all?”</p><p> </p><p>Their hands found each other again, holding on tighter this time. Jisung was almost afraid to let go, as if the moment he did, Minho would slip away, pulled back by his Tether with no guarantee that Jisung would ever see him again.</p><p> </p><p>It was funny, how the other boy had made such a space for himself in Jisung’s life, considering he was probably hundreds, if not thousands of years out of place. How he somehow fitted perfectly.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve been looking for my somewhere better, Jisung,” he murmured softly, and Jisung wasn’t sure when he’d gotten so close, only that he didn’t want him to pull away. “I’m not supposed to be here - time travelling is my job. I’m supposed to go where and when I’m told to go, and document the same events they tell me to, over and over again. Then when my Tether breaks, they’ll wipe my memories of all of it.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s...that’s not fair.” It was an understatement to say the least. “The power is yours.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve seen so much, Jisung,” Minho rested his head on Jisung’s shoulder with a sigh. “I’m tired of turbulent times and interesting places. I want peaceful; I want boring, where nothing ever happens except some weirdo falling in the pond.”</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Jisung so badly wanted to say <em> it’s right here, you can have it, </em>but simply couldn’t find the words to do so. He wasn’t stupid; he’d noticed the way being close to Minho made his heart race, the way it made his breath catch, the way he wanted to wind his way around Minho’s heart like a whole new Tether and hold him tight, so he wouldn’t slip away again. A part of him wondered if maybe Minho wanted it too.</p><p> </p><p>But a bigger part of him hesitated.</p><p> </p><p>Minho was tired of turbulence, and the last thing Jisung wanted was to cause him any more.</p><p> </p><p>“When it breaks,” he broke the silence he’d barely even registered had settled around them, “I hope you’re somewhere that makes you happy.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m working on it.”</p><p> </p><p>That would have to be enough for Jisung, for now. </p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>
  <em> v. </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>“When will they build the Orbital Colony?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not for a long, long time.”</p><p> </p><p>“Could you point out where it’ll be?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think space works like that, Jisung, but I can point out some other cool stuff, if you want.”</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Minho’s Tether was starting to fray.</p><p> </p><p>He’d stopped covering his arms so much when they were alone together, now, but the atmosphere always got a little tense when they were on show. He liked to tease, liked to ask Jisung if he had a weakness for strong men, and Jisung did his best to give back as good as he got.</p><p> </p><p>Still, he couldn’t help but feel antsy whenever Minho’s left arm was uncovered. Couldn’t help but stare, watching, waiting for the ropes to snap.</p><p> </p><p>If Minho had been anyone else, Jisung might have wondered if something had changed recently. Maybe he’d come to a decision, maybe he’d <em> met someone </em>, as Changbin had insistently put it. With Minho, though, he never could be sure. Never did know what the other boy went through when he was anywhere other than right by Jisung’s side.</p><p> </p><p>Something was definitely different, though, as he was dropping by far more frequently, and seemingly without a plan.</p><p> </p><p>They had a plan tonight - watching the stars on a quiet hillside on the outskirts of town. It had been forecast to be warm and clear, a balmy summer night like the kind people wrote love songs about, and Minho already seemed to know it when he’d shown up outside Jisung’s apartment that afternoon.</p><p> </p><p>Jisung didn’t know a whole lot about the stars. Considering Minho was <em> literally </em> from space, he wondered if maybe it was time to learn.</p><p> </p><p>And who better to teach him than Minho?</p><p> </p><p>“Do you see it? Follow the shape like this.” He would say every time, holding up Jisung’s arm and drawing out patterns in the air. Stars were strange - they never did look like their names, not to Jisung, but it was fun to look up constellations on Jisung’s phone with the screen brightness turned way down low, and read the stories that used to be told about them, long ago.</p><p> </p><p>It was kind of like its own form of time travel.</p><p> </p><p>“Space is freaky, but like, beautiful freaky.” Jisung lay back on the grass, giving up on seeing specific stars and shapes for now and just basking in the ocean of twinkling lights above him. Minho flopped down beside him.</p><p> </p><p>“It is,” he sighed. “It’s nicer to look at from here. I don’t want to go back.”</p><p> </p><p>Jisung swallowed, starlight starting to blur together somewhat. Minho’s Tether was so, so thin now, he had to be running out of jumps. He wished he knew more of the details so he could say something comforting, something encouraging, but Minho seemed to want to leave his baggage behind - or perhaps, in front - of him, and Jisung respected that.</p><p> </p><p>It just terrified him, a little.</p><p> </p><p>“When will it take you back?” Jisung had seen Minho <em> appear </em> multiple times now, and while the horrible <em> crack </em>ing noise never got any better, it was nice to be able to greet Minho immediately on arrival, when he was the shaken and slightly anxious boy he’d first pulled out of the pond back in spring. He’d never seen him leave, though. Minho never did like being around Jisung when it was apparently time to go.</p><p> </p><p>“By morning, I’m sure. It varies.”</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s stay out all night.” The words came out before Jisung could overthink them. “Right here. I don’t even want to waste a second." </p><p> </p><p>“I wouldn’t call a single second we’ve spent together a waste.”</p><p> </p><p>Jisung’s stomach tied itself in knots, and while they both kept their eyes trained firmly on the night sky, Minho did slip his arm around Jisung’s waist. And if Jisung had moved a little closer to him, well, neither of them said anything about that either.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>“I hope this isn’t too boring for you,” Jisung mumbled after a while, after a long, long silence that had him wondering if Minho had fallen asleep beside him.</p><p> </p><p>“I told you, I love boring. I love it when nothing happens. Interesting is overrated.” He ran his thumb over Jisung’s hip idly, drawing little shapes. Jisung dared to think one might have been a heart, but maybe he was just a little frazzled from the proximity. “It’s times like these when I can really just...breathe.”</p><p> </p><p>“Like these?”</p><p> </p><p>“Like with you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Do you do this anywhere else?” He’d never meant to ask that, not out loud, but the thought had been in the back of his mind for months now and apparently being so close to Minho threw all his tact and self-control out of the window. “I mean, is there someone like me a hundred years from now? Or a thousand? Or way way back before my grandparents were even born?”</p><p> </p><p>Minho chuckled from beside him, and Jisung’s heart did a flip in his chest. “There’s nobody like you, ‘Sungie. Never has been, never will be.”</p><p> </p><p>“When your Tether snaps…” Jisung didn’t usually mention it, not by name, but he had to. He <em> had </em> to. Maybe it was from having Minho so close, having Minho all to himself in their own little world where time didn’t move at all forwards, backwards or otherwise, but he was done being coy. Done waiting for something to happen. It was time to <em> make </em>something happen, for once. “Will you come here? Now? With me?”</p><p> </p><p>Before Jisung could even blink, Minho had moved to hover above him on the grass, palms pressing into the earth above Jisung’s shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>Forget the stars - Minho absolutely shone, and Jisung couldn’t look away if he tried.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t laugh,” Minho began, and nothing had ever been less funny in Jisung’s entire life as he watched each word fall from Minho’s lips, utterly transfixed. “But my heart’s been here for a while now.”</p><p> </p><p>Maybe Minho had more time-related powers than he was letting on, as when he leaned down to press his lips against Jisung’s, it was as if the flow of time had frozen completely before shattering into thousands, millions of tiny pieces like so many stars in the sky above them.</p><p> </p><p>How they hadn’t done this before, Jisung really did not know. How they had waited until push came to shove, until the Tether began to fray.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe this was the kind of thing that happened when Jisung forced himself to be bold.</p><p> </p><p>Minho may have been able to breathe when he was with Jisung, but Jisung didn’t even want to waste a moment on breathing right now. Not when he could be pressing his lips to Minho’s over and over and over again, winding his fingers through the other boy’s hair to hold him steady, pull him closer, impossibly close.</p><p> </p><p>Jisung had so many <em> feelings </em> for Minho he could just about burst, and no idea how to put any of them into remotely intelligent words. All he could do was hold on, hold tight as Minho kissed him deeply, numb to the midnight breeze against his skin save for the trail of kisses Minho peppered down his neck.</p><p> </p><p>“Jisung,” he whispered, pressing a light kiss to the corner of Jisung’s mouth as he shivered. “I don’t know how long it’ll be before I can come back again.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll wait for you,” was Jisung’s earnest reply against Minho’s lips. “Just promise you’ll come back.”</p><p> </p><p>“I promise. Just...just don’t kiss anybody else while I’m gone, okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nobody else.” He couldn’t even imagine wanting to, not now he knew what kissing Minho was like. “You’re gonna have to leave me with enough to get by.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not gonna waste a single second.” Minho shuddered under his touch, and before Jisung could say another word their mouths met again, again, again. It was like the air had been completely knocked out of Jisung’s lungs, every inch of his skin set ablaze, his head empty of thoughts and his heart filled to bursting with <em> Minho. </em></p><p> </p><p>They kissed until they were breathless, kissed each other silly, kissed until they could barely hold themselves up and the sun began to peek out over the horizon.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>When Jisung woke up on the hillside, he was alone, but the ache in his heart was drowned out by the butterflies in his stomach, by the tingling on his skin. Echoes of kisses, touches, promises.</p><p> </p><p>Now, all he could do was wait.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p><em> ∞ </em> <em> . </em></p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>Sometimes, Jisung really did wonder if he’d imagined the whole thing.</p><p>
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  <br/>
</p><p>Winter blew cold, and much as Jisung did his best to stay busy, the embers in his heart could only keep him warm for so long.</p><p> </p><p><em> Offer’s still open if you want to come and hang out </em> , Changbin had said. <em> You seem kind of down, and I know a lot of fun people. </em></p><p> </p><p><em> Another time, </em>Jisung had insisted.</p><p> </p><p>After all, he had a promise to keep.</p><p> </p><p>The library, the park, petting Sunny when she crept into the apartment in search of an extra feed or watching the stars from his bedroom window, Jisung wondered if he looked a little hopeless. Helpless. Sitting around and waiting for something to happen again.</p><p> </p><p>He just wished he knew a little more. Something. <em> Anything. </em></p><p> </p><p>Where was Minho now? What year, what planet? Was he trapped somewhere with a broken Tether? Was he getting ready for one last leap back? Had he been caught in the act? Jisung didn’t even want to think about that last one - Minho never had told him what could happen if that came to pass, but his reluctance to elaborate had said enough for him.</p><p> </p><p>Winter turned to spring, and as the rains knocked the early blossoms from their trees into the ground, it was the faint echoes of promises, of <em> somewhere better </em>, that kept Jisung moving forward.</p><p> </p><p>If he moved forward and Minho leapt back, maybe they’d meet in the middle, somewhere. And with that thought, he kept moving.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Jisung wasn’t sure what had led him to the park that day. It was like any other day, up until that point. Cloudy and a little drizzly from the early-morning rain. He just wanted a change of scenery, something interesting to happen. Maybe he’d see some squirrels running around, or bugs, or ducks squabbling by the water’s edge.</p><p> </p><p>As it turned out, there were no squirrels that day. No weird bugs to be found, not even in the bushes, and the ducks seemed to have formed an uneasy truce over by the fountains.</p><p> </p><p>As it turned out, just as Jisung turned to leave the park, he was stopped in his tracks by an almighty <em> crack </em> of biblical proportions. A <em> splash </em>. A splutter.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>There was someone in the pond.</p><p>
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</p><p><em> Hey, </em> Jisung felt the words more than he heard them, a grin against his lips as sodden chests pressed together and fingertips wound through damp hair and pondweed. <em> What year is it? </em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>wooo bingo is bingover ♥</p><p>don't worry (or maybe worry?) there's more weird fic where this came from</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/jicasso_future">twitter</a>  +  <a href="https://curiouscat.me/futurelikejicasso">curiouscat</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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